Joyce was so pissed after Tristan dismissed her just like that. She was about ready to punch the car window when Jacob suddenly came out of it. Acting like she wasn’t up to something, Joyce quickly retracted her fist, faked a smile at Jacob, then walked away.
She was cursing under her breath while walking towards the exit of the parking lot. ‘Now he doesn’t even want to look at me,’ she muttered to herself. ‘This is all because of that bitch!’
“Joyce!” Vernice called to her. She was in her car with the window rolled down. “Where are you headed to?” she asked.
Joyce walked closer to her, “Nowhere,” she quickly answered. Vernice opened the door of her car to let her in.
“Come with me, I’m meeting Mom at Zark’s.”
Joyce accepted the invitation and in a few minutes, they arrived at the restaurant. Esme was surprised to see her but she welcomed her nonetheless.
“I went to De Clarion Empire to see Tristan,” Joyce started, as soon as their drinks and snacks were served. She was smiling when she told them but then she suddenly cried.
“What happened?” Esme asked in a panic.
“He asked me to leave, he doesn’t want to see me,” Joyce informed them, smiling and crying alternately.
Esme and Vernice glanced at each other, both finding the woman weird. It’s as if she’s about to lose it, based on her expressions.
Joyce suddenly stood up, bumping into the table, knocking the glasses, and spilling their drinks. “I’m going. I need to see a plastic surgeon,” she said out of nowhere.
Not sure if she was serious or not, but Esme and Vernice nodded at her. They both let out a nervous sigh when Joyce left.
“What’s going on with her? She’s scary!” Vernice exclaimed, massaging her chest as if she were about to suffer from a heart attack.
“Indeed!” Esme responded. Then she smiled wickedly.
“Mom stop! You’re starting to scare me too!” Vernice snapped at her while munching on her food.
“I suddenly thought of something, but I need to plan this out properly,” she said, not giving Vernice any other details.
Back in Dale, after staying in the city for two weeks, Belle finally decided to go back to Bree. “Do you really have to go?” Lydia asked, still worried about her daughter.
When they came back from the hotel, they found their house in a mess. Everything was turned upside down. Worst, Belle’s necklace has gone missing.
Raymond didn’t let them know about it, as both Lydia and Belle were unaware that he was keeping something as valuable as that in their home. If they knew, he wouldn’t have heard the end of it.
“Yes Mom, I can’t just let Nathalie take care of everything in the company.” Lydia frowned at her daughter’s decisiveness. She can’t persuade her to stay in Dale. “How about this, I’ll find you an apartment, then you and Dad come over.”
Lydia shook her head, “You know we’ve never gone anywhere outside Dale, it will be hard for us to adjust to Bree,” she scowled.
In the middle of their conversation, Belle’s phone rang. She is getting a call from Lawrence. She excused herself, and went out of her bedroom and to their garden, to answer the call.
The call ended several minutes ago, but Belle was still in a trance. She has been looking at the picture of the necklace Lawrence sent her, and she still can’t believe that something as valuable as such belongs to her.
Lawrence called to inform her that the necklace her mother, Rose, gifted to her for her 6th birthday had been donated to a charity auction. What was even more surprising is that it was Tristan who donated it.
Furious at the thought, she decided to change her booking and get on an earlier flight. The auction will be held tomorrow and since she doesn’t have an invitation for it, she needs to find someone who does.
Raymond and Lydia were confused as to why she decided to leave earlier than scheduled. Still, the couple let their daughter go, as they are worried about her company too.
As soon as Belle landed in Bree, she called Nathalie to help her look for the list of guests for the charity auction. When she was in the cab on her way home, she received a screenshot of the list she was looking for.
At the same time, she received a call from John, asking about her whereabouts. When she told him that she had just arrived in Bree, Frederick took the phone from the butler and spoke to Belle.
“Can you come by the villa?” his voice was pleading and as if something warm touched Belle’s heart, so she agreed.
She knew how worried the old man was after what happened to her. Nathalie told her everything about it, as told to her by Jacob.
She was feeling guilty too for not calling Frederick when she was in Dale. Although she knows the old man was worried, she disregarded it as she doesn’t want Tristan to find her or even try to talk to her.
When she got to the villa, John welcomed her with arms wide open. She returned the man’s hug, then he led her to the living room where Frederick was waiting for her.
“I thought you wouldn’t see me anymore,” he told her, as soon as she appeared in front of him. He even pouted like a kid.
Belle chuckled at his expression, “You know that’s not possible,” she told him, refuting what the old man said.
“Come here little girl,” extending a hand to Belle, which she accepted with a broad smile. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
“What is it?” Belle asked, obviously curious as to what the old man had for her.
John then handed over an envelope where Frederick took out a couple of A4s. He laid it all on the coffee table and only then did Belle realize that they were property titles.
“I’m turning all these over to you,” he told her, smiling. “This is a villa here in Belmont Gardens, this is an apartment in Vistancia, and this is a building in Bree Central,” he explained, showing the documents to her one by one.
Belle looked from the papers to Frederick, her forehead was creased and confusion was written all over her face. “Why?”
“Because I love you, I love you more than that stupid Tristan,” he answered smugly.
Belle chuckled at the way he said it, but she shook her head at the same time. “I can’t accept these though,” pushing the paper on the coffee table away from her.
“No, these are my gifts to you and you have no right to refuse them. I already had those transferred under your name,” not giving Belle another chance to turn down his gifts.
John took the documents and returned them to the envelope before passing them to Belle. She took it hesitantly and smiled lazily at both men.
“This is too much,” she told him again, but Frederick was firm on his decision to give the property to her.
After exchanging a few more stories, Belle bade them farewell. Frederick wanted her to stay for the night, but Belle told him she couldn’t.
She told the old man she needed to prepare for a demo the next day. Actually, it was just her excuse to refuse.
Although Frederick agreed to let her go, he insisted that it would be the De Clarion driver who would take her home. Belle agreed to end the conversation.
When she got home, she immediately called her parents and Nathalie to let them know. Then she washed up and prepared for bed.
While lying down, she checked her phone again to look at the necklace. It was a gift from her mother, according to Lawrence. ‘But why was it with Tristan?’ she couldn’t help but wonder.
She checked the list of guests again, as she didn’t finish checking it earlier. Tristan, of course, is on the list.
She scrolled down, she saw Esme and Vernice’s names. But what she was most thankful about was seeing Eric’s name.
She decided to sleep for now and call Eric the next day. He will need his help to attend the auction. ‘I need to get that necklace back, no matter what it takes.’